Turtle Rover: Mars robot replica powered by Raspberry Pi hits funding target

Following our interview with Kell Ideas’ CEO Szymon Dzwonczyk, the Turtle Rover has exceeded its Indiegogo funding target by over €6,000.

Szymon tells us, “Everyone will still be able to buy the Turtle Rover via Indiegogo, and by the end of the year from our shop.”

The kit Rover costs $990 (roughly £750) plus shipping, while a built Rover costs $1,972 (roughly £1,500) plus shipping.

Turtle Rover prototype: Mars engineers build Raspberry robot

Designed by Mars Rover prototype engineers, the Turtle can do the same job on Earth.

At the heart of the Turtle Rover is a Pi 3. As Szymon explains, “We love the computer and need to encourage people to play with the rover software using open-source code from the Pi community.”

The bespoke Turtle HAT uses “H-bridges and an STM32 [microcontroller] to drive the robotic arm.” The Turtle Rover is rugged, waterproof, and fully customisable, with wireless control (via an app) at up to 200 m. The internal battery should last for 4 hours of driving time.

See also: Build your own Mars Rover.